The present invention relates generally to a grinding wheel assembly and, more particularly, to such an assembly having improved coolant delivery capabilities.
Grinding wheels have been used in the past for finishing edges of planar workpieces, such as glass sheets. For example, grinding wheels have been used in the past to form rounded or beveled profiles on edges of glass sheets which are used as door glazings in automotive vehicles. A standard rotational speed for a grinding wheel used to finish the edge of a glass sheet is approximately 3600 RPM. During such high speed grinding operations, an excessive amount of heat is generated in the grinding area and coolant fluids have been used in the past to dissipate the heat. Such fluids also serve to suppress dust and flush away ground particles.
In one known grinding wheel assembly used for finishing glass sheet edges, cooling is accomplished by spraying water in the vicinity of the grinding area. A sufficient quantity of the sprayed water makes its way to the grinding area for effective cooling if the sheet is fed to the grinding wheel at a limited feed rate and only a limited depth of cut is accomplished. If, however, the glass feed rate and/or the depth of cut is excessive, an undesirable build-up of heat in the grinding area may occur.
It would be desirable to have a grinding wheel assembly having improved coolant delivery capabilities to allow the feed rate of a glass sheet and/or the depth of cut to be increased without causing an unacceptable build-up of heat in the grinding area.